Often, during a welding process, a welder may deliberately retract an electrode from a workpiece. In some instances, the welder may retract the electrode from the workpiece so as to control a weld pool (e.g., a temperature of a weld puddle). Under such a scenario, the welder may not want the retraction of the electrode to cause the output arc to break or extinguish. That is, certain retractions of the electrode from the workpiece may be intended to be a short break in the welding process. In other instances, the welder may retract the electrode from the workpiece with the intention to cause the output arc to break. Under such a scenario, the welder expects the output arc to break.
Many conventional welding systems are not capable of distinguishing a welder's movement of the electrode relative to the workpiece as being a short break in the welding process or as being a first step towards deliberately breaking the output arc. As a result, many conventional welding systems are simply designed to attempt to maintain the arc during any retraction of the electrode by the welder. These conventional welding systems consequently adjust operation to maintain the arc in such circumstances, resulting in a long arc that can be detrimental to the welding process and weld quality. These shortcomings are common in conventional manual metal arc welding (MMA) systems during MMA welding processes.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present disclosure is provided.